Thursday, December 16, 2010

...Gathering Horror...

Among the comments I’ve received since beginning this Skywald “Horror-Mood’ blog, one of the most unexpected ones came from author and Warren Publishing historian David Horne. David had some kind words for us so I felt that it would only be rightly deserved and fitting to shamelessly plug his outstanding tome ‘Gathering Horror’. If you are a "choke” Warren Publishing” fan, James Warren is best known as the ‘independent publishing maverick’ who published such periodicals as ‘Famous Monsters Of Filmland’, ‘Creepy’, ‘Eerie’, and ‘Vampirella’. At over 700 pages and eight years in the making, ‘Gathering Horror’ is the most ambitious, thorough, and detailed checklist and index about the Warren Publications, and should be considered a must-have guide for devout Warren Publishing fans and collectors the world over. “Archaic” Al Hewetson wrote for Warren and was offered the editorship of his (Warren's) line of magazines but wisely turned it down in order to give us ‘The Horror-Mood’ line of Skywald magazines. A self published effort from David’s own imprint Phrona Press, the book only exists as a First Edition print run of 300 copies and is only available here:http://cgi.ebay.com/Warren-catalog-index-1-Famous-Monsters-Vampirella-Help-/320630231207?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa70d10a7#ht_1006wt_1126and here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Gathering-Horror-Horne-Warren-Eerie-Creepy-1-catalog-/320630232797?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa70d16dd#ht_1006wt_1126.

Our very own Skywald Checklist historian Richard J Arndt had the following to say about this ginormous tome: “ This is the best book on Warren available. I’m a little consumed with envy about it. I’ve got an online Warren checklist (at http://www.enjolrasworld.com/ then look for Richard’s pages) that for some years was the definitive word on Warren credits. GCBD used my Warren & Skywald credits for their database. Dave Horne’s book expands upon and covers a great deal more that I ever thought possible. It’s beautifully done and extremely well organized. If you’re a Warren fan, this is THE reference book you’ve been waiting for. If nothing else, the 'Gathering Horror' book will certainly greatly increase in value when it's print run is sold out. My copy of 'Six Stories', self-published by Stephen King, is currently selling for $1400 dollars US. I ordered it pre-publication for $85.” - Richard J Arndt